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Thursday, November 6, 2014

Meet Maris Soule

You're in for a real treat today. I'd like you to meet a terrific lady. I met Maris Soule at the very beginning of my writing career. Her generosity in giving of her time and experience helped me tremendously. I always enjoyed reading her romances and was thrilled when she began writing mysteries--especially when they took place near where I lived.

Welcome, Maris. Thanks for being here. Please tell us about yourself.

Thank you, Diane. Well, I’ve been published
for over 30 years now. (Wow, that always shocks me. Where did the time go?) I
started writing romances, but I’ve also always been a lover of mystery and
suspense, so over time many of my romances shifted to romantic suspense.
Finally, around the year 2000 I decided I wanted to write suspense with a
little romance in them. The Crows was my first published
mystery, and in that book P.J. Benson and detective Wade Kingsley became
involved. When readers started asking what happened to them after that story, I
wrote As the Crow Flies, in which P.J. continues to get involved in
dangerous situations and the romance with Wade continues. That book ended with
a question my fans wanted answered. Is P.J. pregnant? In June 2015 they’ll
discover the answer in Eat Crow and Die. But before that
book comes out, I started wondering what a trained assassin might be like when
she was 74-years-old. A Killer Past will be out in March
2015.

Where can readers
find you?

I assume you mean on-line. My web site is http://marissoule.com Every Wednesday I try to
blog, generally about writing, but I occasionally invite a guest. Http://marissoule.com/blog/ I’m also on
Facebook, both with my author’s page Facebook.com/marissouleauthor(I’d love your guests to “Like” me) and on my
personal page. And I am on Twitter @marisSouthHaven, and Google+, Goodreads, LinkedIn,
and Pinterest (you can see my covers there). Just type my name and you’ll find
me.

How long does it take you to write a book?

Ha, there’s no one
answer to that question. Once, when I was writing for Bantam’s Loveswept line,
my editor asked me if I could come up with a story and have it ready to send to
her in 6 weeks. I had the story idea to her in 24 hours and the finished ms in
her hands in exactly six weeks. On the other hand, the ms I just sent to my
agent took me over 7 years to finish (with a couple other stories interrupting
along the way). The best I’ve ever done was 4 books in one year…but that really
was more than I could handle, especially since I was working part-time.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

Nowadays it’s
hit-and-miss. I write when I find time (I’ve discovered I have less time now
that I’m retired than when I was working) and when my back allows me to sit for
any length of time (I’ve had two compression fractures in my lifetime, and I’m
now paying for those injuries).

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Way too many
things. I paint (I majored in art and still like to dabble in it), read, walk,
go sailing, do yoga, visit friends, travel, and eat, eat, eat. (We go out a
lot.)

What does your family think of your writing?

My husband has been
fantastic. He’s the one who urged me to give it a try and to stick to it. When
my children were old enough to realize what I was doing, they thought it was
cool. They both like to read and write, so they understand the urge.

What is the best part of writing for you?

Editing. Writing the
rough draft is the most difficult. Once that’s down, I can go in and clean it
up, add material I didn’t realize I needed or was in too much of a hurry to
develop.

What do you enjoy most about life?

The beauty of this world we live
in, the friendship and love of my family, being around people who have a
positive attitude, and laughter. Lots of laughter.

If you could give the younger version of yourself advice what would it
be?

Even the best writers seem to have doubts, so keep at it. Perseverance
will pay off.

Tell us about your latest book.

A Killer Past is the book that will
be released in March 2015. It’s written using two points of view, Mary
Harrington, a 74-year-old woman who has been living in Rivershore, a small west
Michigan town, for 44 years without drawing any attention to herself. But when
she puts two teenaged gang members in the hospital after they try to mug her,
local police sergeant, Jack Rossini, is curious, especially when Mary keeps
denying she was involved. And when Jack looks into Mary’s past, he discovers
there is nothing—absolutely no record of her existence—before she moved to Rivershore.
A Killer Past is a suspense and is being published in hardcover by Robert Hale
Ltd, a London publisher, and will be available worldwide with the e-book being
released one month later.

Scene from A KILLER PAST:

“When
I arrived last night, the boys said a woman beat them up. An old
woman.” Jack Rossini kept his gaze fixed on Mary Harrington's face, waiting
for her reaction.

“Not
a ninja?”

“No.
An old woman.”

She
gave a stilted laugh. “And what where they smoking?”

“How
did you know they were smoking anything?”

She
shook her head. “I didn't, but really, an old woman beat them
up?”

“This
woman might be in danger.”

“How's
that?” Her voice and eyebrows lifted slightly.

“They're
members of a gang.”

“Ah.”
She nodded. “Ella . . . my neighbor . . . and I were just talking about gangs.
Wasn't there another gang shooting last night?”

“Different
gang,” he said, unwilling to allow the conversation to be diverted. “This gang,
the one the two boys belong to, is a particularly nasty group. Image is very
important to them, and they would think nothing of killing someone they felt
didn't show respect. They wouldn't want it getting around that a woman, much
less an old woman, beat them up.”

“So
why aren't they in jail?”

“So
far no one's willing to testify against them.”

She
gave a slight nod and then shrugged. “Well, from what you've told me, the ones
doing the testifying would be the gang members. They were the ones beat up.
Right?”

“But
maybe there was a reason for the beating.” He waited, hoping she'd give him
one.

“Maybe,”
she said and lifted her mug of tea and took a sip.

“Such
as?”

She
shrugged and set her mug back down. “I guess you won't know until you find who
did it.”

“I
think you know who did it,” Jack said, irritated by her casual
attitude.

Thank you, Diane, for inviting me
to be your guest.

Glad to have you, Maris. A KILLER PAST sounds like a thrilling book. I can't wait until it comes out. In the meantime, folks, check out HAUNTED http://amzn.com/B00AERRPH0That should tide you over until March.

Diane Burton combines her love of mystery, adventure, science fiction and romance into writing romantic fiction.
For more info and excerpts from her books, visit Diane’s website: http://www.dianeburton.com

9 comments:

Ooohhh, love the exerpt! And I love Maris' writing. Lately I've been drawn to (and have been busy writing about) older characters. They have so much to offer in the way of life experiences. This sounds like a must-read. I agree with you, Diane, Maris is so wonderfully supportive - where would we be without people like her?

Thank you, Patricia. The moment Mary Harrington entered my mind, she fascinated me. I wouldn't want a "killer past," but I'd love to have her sass. As for being supportive, that's something I think we all need to do all the time, whether it's in regard to writing or life in general. We all need each other.

Oh, Rohn, Mary Harrington isn't content to sit in a rocking chair and knit. She's not out there looking for a mate (she had a good one for many years), but she's not opposed to renewing old passions, much to her granddaughter's shock.

Thank you, Diane, for inviting me to your "Meet the Author Thursday." I've been enjoying your friendship and books for many years, and I'm so glad you're now living closer. We must get together for lunch, soon.